Epic simile of Milton's ‘Paradise Lost' Book 1
Simile
is a definition of figure of speech that makes a comparison, sewing
similarities between two different things. Unlike are metaphor, a simile draws
resemblance with the help of the words "like" or "as".
Therefore it is a direct comparison.
Epic
simile are also known as Homeric simile. But Miltonic simile or epic simile of
Milton are technical it different from Homeric simile. In paradise lost Milton
uses Epic simile to intensify the effect. But before Milton used Epic simile in
his 'Paradise lost' Homer ( Iliad), Virgil ( Aeneid) Lucan ( Pharsalia),
Tasso ( Jerusalem Delivered), Spenser ( The Faerie Queen ) and
other had already used in their epics.
J.H.
Hansford says that “ a striking features of Milton’s style in Paradise Lost is his use of the epic or expanded simile” (A
Milton Handbook).
In
Paradise Lost (Book I),the action takes places in Hell and the action
resolves round Satan. However, Milton’s simile compare Hell Satan with early things for phenomenon
notwithstanding his mythological ,Biblical or Historical resources.
Therefore, the similes temporarily
suspended the narrative in order to provide internal commenting on the
character and incidents. Milton also chooses for comparison things also outside
human experience, like - things remote,
fabulous mythological, Historical
, Biblical or natural. Does we found the similes in 'Paradise Lost', e.g.
"Leviathan simile", "Satan's shield and spear",
"Vallambrosa simile", "Sedge simile", "Pigmies
simile" etc.
In
'Paradise List' , in the first epic similes Satan's huge physic lying in the
lake of fire in Hell is compared to Leviathan, the sea beast : "Leviathan, which god of all his works/
Created you just that swim the ocean stream." (201- 202).
Leviathan
was so huge sized that when it ley
asleep on the foam on the Norwegian sea,
the pilots of the benighted
skiffs mistook him for some Island. After describing the
enormous size of the leviathan Milton
focuses on the gigantisms of the
Hellish world which leads Satan. The
effect is not only to bring out Satan
structure but also the falseness of appearance and deception.
The
next comparison is between Satan's huge shield and spear with the moon and the tallest
pine respectively. Satan’s silt is compared to moon as seen through Galileo's
telescope. The spear of Satan is compared to the tallest pine with appears to
be a want or small stick, for instance we may quote few lines : “….. the broad circumstances / Hung on his
shoulders like the moon , whose orb / through optic Glass the Tuscan artist
views.” ( Book1, line- 286-288).
Such similes suggest on one hand the size of the weapon
and on the other hand, the huge size of Satan who holds it. In 'Odyssey', ix, 322, Homer
makes the club of Polyphemus as big as the mast of a ship , and in 'Aeneid',
iii, 659, Virgil gives him a pine to walk with.
The
third comparison is between the fallen Angels and the autumnal leaves that are
strewn the rook called Vallombrosa.: “ His Legions, Angels Forms, who lay intranc'd / Thick as Autumnal Leaves
that strow the Brooks / In Vallombrosa……” (I, 300-302 ).
Like
many of Milton's similes, this is an
adoption of an established epic comparison. Homer's Iliad has compared multitude
to countless leaves and flowers. Vigil has applied the comparison to the
thronging ghost in Hades ('Aeneid', vi, 310) and made them autumn leaves falling to the ground with the first frost. Milton
adapts to a different kind of spiritual beings in a different situation. The
significance of the simile is that it suggest the Boston number of the fallen
Angels and the sense of confusion in which they lie. It also suggest they are
lost glory. This comparison of the fallen Angels with the leaves is further
extended by comparing the fallen Angels to sedges or sea seed, which float on the Red-sea. In the Red-sea the
Egyptian soldiers were drowned, and there dead bodies and broken chariot will remained
afloat (L.305- 311). Similarly, comparison of the fallen Angels with the doomed
Egyptian soldiers brings out, as F.T. Prince comments, “ the plight of the
Satan's followers”. In some similes the face of Saturn is compared to the eclipse
of sun 592 -597). Therefore, the comparison of Saturn with eclipse refers to
the fallen condition of Satan.
The
next simile is Pigmies' simile. Milton
uses to similes to convey the idea of the smallest size of the transformed Angels.
He fast compares them to the pygmies who lived beyond the Indian mount. Next he
compares them to the fairies and elves. The second comparison is a grant
example of the Epic simile. Milton has compared the transformed Angels to the fairies
and the elves with the respect to size, but the simile travels beyond the point of the comparison and
gives a picture of The midnight revelries of the fairies and the moon and the peasant’s
enchantment by them.( L. 779- 783).
Some
similes compare the fallen Angels with bees in summer, crowds, crowds that
gather during tournaments, fairies , elves and dwarfs. Daiches rightly says : “
Milton’s epic similes have an important function in the poem as providing the
only link between cosmic scenery of the epic and the world of ordinary men in their
day-to-day activities throughout all of history and geography”.
It
is in the completeness of its correspondence with the object that Miltonic simile is most unique and the best
demonstrates the control which the poet exercised over his artistic imagination
to conclude with CS Lewis who observes: “…. Heaven and earth are ransacked for
simile and illusion that is not done for display but in order to guide our
imagination with unobtrusive pressure
into the channels where the weight wishes them to flow. The learning
which reader requires is responding to a given allusion does not equal the learning Milton needed to find
it”.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Singha,
M.N., Evergreen Leaves of English Poetry, Kolkata , Krishnendu
Prakashani , 2015.
2. WWW.JSTOR.Org/
Lewis, CS , A Perfect to Paradise Lost, John Milton, Paradise Lost.
3. Milton,
Paradise Lost , Book I, ( ed.)
John T. Shawcross, Milton: The Critical Heritage , 1732 – 1801.
4. Milton,
Paradise Lost , Book I, ( ed.) John
Broadbent, Paradise Lost : Introduction,
5. Matthew
Albright, author of Classic Note. Completed on May 11, 2000.
Comments
Post a Comment